China is hoping for an extra slice of the global car industry – and may even get its hands on Jeep.

Great Wall Motor, the country’s biggest pick-up truck manufacturer, is eyeing up Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the Italian-US car maker that owns the iconic Jeep brand developed during the Second World War and is worth £15 billion.

In a move likely to set alarm bells ringing in the White House amid fears over China’s increasingly powerful role in the global economy, a Great Wall official said: ‘We currently have an intention to acquire. We are interested.’